No single person is more responsible for the current state of the Green Bay Packers as an organization than Bob Harlan. The former team president and CEO oversaw two decades of dramatic change in Green Bay as the franchise transformed from a backwater, bottom-feeding franchise back into one of the most successful and desirable franchises in all of North American pro sports.
This fall, the Packers will bestow one of the franchise’s greatest honors on Harlan. At Monday’s 2026 Shareholders Meeting, current
CEO Ed Policy announced that the Packers will place Harlan’s name on the Lambeau Field facade this season, with the revealing to take place during a ceremony at halftime of the Packers’ week 9 game against the Carolina Panthers.
Harlan’s biggest change after taking charge of the franchise was to hire Ron Wolf as general manager and give him complete control over all football-related decisions, removing the Packers’ board from having any input. While Harlan handled the financials and the overall health of the organization, leading to renovations of Lambeau Field and the construction of many of the team’s current facilities, Wolf was charged with making the football team itself competitive.
Under Harlan’s stewardship, the Packers returned to glory with a win in Super Bowl XXXI less than a decade after he took over. The team would win another Super Bowl with a new general manager, Ted Thompson, whom Harlan hired into the job in 2004. Mark Murphy succeeded Harlan as CEO in 2008 before himself retiring last summer and handing the reins over to Policy.
Harlan, who passed away in March at the age of 89, will be the second non-player to have his name added to the facade inside the stadium. Thompson was the first, with the team honoring him as a special contributor during the 2021 season after he passed away in January of that year.
